Learn English – Inhabitant of a hospital

single-word-requestssynonyms

I'm looking for a word that can describe a long-term inhabitant (inhabitant is the best I've come up with so far) of a hospital.

Specifically, a soldier living (retained? – again, word might fit here too) in a War Hospital not long after the First World War, however the answer doesn't have to take into account the time period, as I feel there is a word at the back of my mind I simply cannot find right now which means "inhabitant of hospital."

I'd like to be able to use it to complete this sentence:

The gravel pathway was bordered by short, waist-height shrubberies behind which were the colourful flowerbeds intended to pacify the hospital's ________.

Best Answer

inmate:

any of a group occupying a single place of residence; especially : a person confined (as in a prison or hospital) (Merriam Webster)

In a hospital setting, the word currently has a strong connotation of referring to patients with mental disorders. It might sound strange if most of the people in the hospital are being held there for other reasons.

Vocabulary.com also has a short explanation of the meaning and connotations of the word, where it says "You can talk about a hospital inmate or the inmates at a local boarding school, but it's most common to use inmate and prisoner interchangeably."